Hopper for handling biscuits



June 8, 1954 A c PAGE HOPPER FOR HANDLING BISCUITS Filed April 8, 1952 @QW 4,1, M M M Arr '5 Patented June 8, 1 954 HOPPER FOR HANDLING BISCUITS Alfred Cornelius Page, Tynemouth, England, as-

signor to Wrights Biscuits Limited, South Shields, England, a British company Application April 8, 1952, Serial No. 281,142

Claims priority, application Great Britain August 2, 1951 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the handling of biscuits.

In my co-pending United States patent application, Serial No. 116,966, filed September 21, 1949, now Patent No. 2,656,907, I have described and claimed means for automatically feeding biscuits from a stacking machine to a vertically disposed hopper from the lower end of which biscuits are fed out one or more at a time by a reciprocating pusher, which moves backwards and forwards on a horizontal surface underneath the hopper. The said apparatus causes the biscuits, whilst standing on edge between side guides, to push one another along from behind over a band or table which curves around through a right angle in the vertical plane so that each of said biscuits is progressively turned from the vertical on-edge position to a horizontal position, said band or table terminating in a vertical chute at the entrance to the hopper or other container. Now it will be obvious that in the operation of this feeding apparatus, the rate of take-01f from the lower end of the hopper must not exceed the rate of feed to the hopper, otherwise the biscuits when they turn over from their vertical position to the horizontal position will fall higgledy-piggledy into the hopper and the apparatus will jam. With this in mind it was proposed in my said co-pending patent application to feed the biscuits over a floating band which sagged from its normal floating position when the feeding rate of biscuits to the hopper was less than the rate of take-off of biscuits from the hopper and this sagging of the band was employed to cause the biscuits to be gripped within the hopper 50 as to stop the takeoff.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide improved means for preventing the rate of take-off from the bottom of the hopper from exceeding the rate at which biscuits are fed into the upper portion of the hopper.

According to the present invention, side plates are arranged within the hopper and means are provided for lightly and yieldingly urging said plates towards one another so as to engage the edges of the biscuits, the plates being so shaped that the normal spacing between the lower ends of the said plates is less than the spacing between the upper ends of the plates and less than the width of the biscuits, so that until such time as the combined weight of the biscuits in and above the hopper and the pressure of the biscuits being pushed up from behind is sufficient to overcome the force urging the plates towards one another, the biscuits at the lower end of the hopper will 2 be gripped and will not be fed out to the reciprocating take-off.

The means yieldingly urging the side plates toward one another may comprise weighted levers 5 or springs, and in all cases are preferably adjustable.

In order that this invention may be the more clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference may be made to the accompanying 1U drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the general layout of the apparatus for feeding biscuits to, and withdrawing biscuits from, the

hopper according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the hopper as seen from the right-hand side of Figure 1, with what is then the front removed, this figure showing the position of the parts when biscuits are being fed out of the hopper, and

" Figure 3 is a perspective view of the hopper,

also with the front removed, showing the biscuits held against take-off.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the apparatus therein illustrated is substantially 2 the same as that described in my said co-pending.

patent application No. 116,956, and comprises an endless belt conveyor or the like iii for feeding the biscuits H whilst standing on edge from the stacking machine (not shown) to the beginning 0 of a chute comprising a flexible or floating band I2 which curves around through a right angle in the vertical plane and leads downwardly to the entrance of the hopper l3, side guides (not i shown) being provided to confine the biscuits latpushing one another along from behind over the said band l2 between the side guides to the entrance of the hopper I3. The take-off from the lower end of the hopper is by means of a pusher l5 reciprocating backwards and forwards over a 50 movement towards and away from one another.

One shaft I9 of each pair is extended beyond the hopper and the extended portion carries a radially extending arm 20 on which is carried on adjustably mounted weight 2|. The two plates 5'! 55 slope inwards slightly as at lla at their lower =erally on said band, and the biscuits, on edge,

3 ends or are otherwise so shaped and/ or arranged that they are spaced closer together at their lower ends than at their upper ends, the spacing being such that they are capable of gripping the edges of the biscuits H, at least at the bottom of the hopper.

The weights 2| on the lever arms 20 are so adjusted that when the hopper and the band 12 are full, or contain the predetermined number of biscuits, the combined weight-of the biscuits themselves and the pressure of the biscuits being pushed up from behind is sufficient to overcome the force yieldingly urging the side plates towards one another. The side plates then move slightly outwards (Figure 2) and thebiscuits can pass through the hopper Hi to the table 16 and can be taken off by the reciprocating pusher l5.

Now it will be appreciated that if there is any tendency for the rate of take-oi from the hopper to exceed the rate of feed to the hopper, then the number of biscuits in the hopper and on the band [2 will tend to decrease. Consequently, the force tending to separate the plates, which force is proportional to the number of biscuits on the band I2 and in the hopper l3 and also to the pressure of the biscuits being pushed up from behind, will decrease and become insuificient to overcome the counter-pressure due to the weights 2|. The side plates ii will thereupon move inwardly and will grip the edges of the biscuits (Figure 3) to prevent them being fed out of the hopper. The feed of biscuits on to the band I2 continues and when the normal state of affairs is resumed, the counter-pressure due to the weights 2! will be overcome, the plates ii will move outwards slightly and biscuits will once again be fed to the take-off pusher IS.

The pressure of the side plates need only be very light, and the weights 2i are adjustable along the lever arms 20 so as to give just that pressure which is required to hold the biscuits without damaging the same.

If desired, the weights 2| may be replaced by springs.

The device according to the present invention is simple to produce and will be found to be very effective in ensuring that the take-off of biscuits shall not exceed the rate of feed to the hopper.

I claim:

1. A hopper of the class described, comprising: a hopper body open at its top and at its bottom; a pair of spacedsubstantially parallel vertical plate members symmetrically disposed within said body, said plate members being shaped to provide a closer spacing therebetween at the lower portions than at the upper portions thereof; link means interconnecting said plates and said body, said link means retaining said plates in parallel relationship while permitting lateral movement thereof; and means acting individually on each plate member and yieldingly urging said plates toward each other, whereby,

when a plurality of relatively flat horizontally extending articles are stacked between said plate members with their edges in engagement with the upper portions thereof, a predetermined pressure on said stack will force said closer spaced lower portions thereof apart and allow said stacked articles to be discharged from said hopper.

2. A hopper according to claim 1, wherein said means acting on each plate member is individually adjustable for permitting said predetermined pressure to .be balanced with respect to opposite sides of said stacked articles whereby said horizontal position of said stacked articles will-remain'undisturbed during passage through said hopper.

3. Ahopper of the class described, comprising: a hopper body open at its top and at its bottom; a pair of. spaced substantially vertical plate members symmetrically disposed within said body, said plate members being shaped to provide -a closer spacing therebetween at the lower portions than at the upper portions thereof; va pair of parallel horizontally extending rotatable shafts; link means fixed to each of said shafts and pivotally connected to one of said plate members; further link means interconnecting said hopper body and said plate members for permitting lateral movement of said plate members while maintaining said plate membersin parallel relationship; and means acting individually on each of said shafts and yieldingly urging said shafts to rotate in opposite directions to cause said plate .iembers to move toward each other, whereby, when a plurality of relatively flat horizontally extending articles are stacked between said plate members with their edges in engagement with the upper portions thereof, a predetermined pressure on said stack will force said closer spaced lower portions thereof apart and allow said stacked articles to be discharged from said hopper.

4. A hopper according to claim 3, wherein said means acting on each of said shafts comprises a radially extending arm fixed to each of said shafts and weight means carried by each of said arms, each weight means being individually adjustably positioned on said arm and movable therealong.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 556,527 Berres Mar. 17, 1896 924,351 Hitchcock June 8, 1909 972,649 Rose Oct. 11, 1910 2,402,097 Spraker June 11, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 382,376 Great Britain Oct. 27, 1932 

